REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - People`s Welfare Coordinating Minister Agung Laksono said, all ASEAN member countries had been alerted in anticipating the impact of an earthquake in Aceh on the possibility of a tsunami. "All ASEAN countries had been alerted following information that in Indonesia a quake had struck," he said on Wednesday.

He added that the countries with the highest level of alert were countries most near to Indonesia, especially Aceh, namely Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Agung said the ASEAN countries know about an information of an earthquake from the AHA Center, a coordinating center of ASEAN countries for human assistance for disaster handling.

"These countries are now calling on their people to stay alert and stay away from the coast," he said.

In the meantime, the quake with a magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale on Wednesday at 15.38.29 local time struck in a depth of 10 kilometers or 364 kilometers southwest of Simeulue regency. An after shock with a magnitude of 8.5 on the Richter scale shook Aceh at 15.38.33 local time.

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